CES 2013

James Loudspeakers got the memo on bringing the big subs. Their pro audio speakers are complimented by these massive 18" drivers. Their demo room seemed to lack real low end power though. This seemed to be an issue in a lot of rooms at CEDIA this year. Big subs with lackluster bass performance in their demos. I bet with the right setup and room, these would play nice though.

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Following up on the warm reception that its original Spirit One headphone received, Focal showed two new models today at the CEDIA Expo. Both have slightly larger earcups than the Spirit One, so they should be a little more comfortable.

With so many mainstream companies getting into the soundbar biz, much of the action in that category seems to have shifted over to the CEDIA Expo. Still, CES 2013 did reveal a few new soundbar models. Some, like the Vizios shown above, blew away showgoers with their sound quality.

As much as CES 2013 was a headphone show, it was also a Bluetooth show. So many companies displayed new Bluetooth speakers that I started doing triage on the first day, ignoring the lookalikes, the animal-shaped speakers, and (most of) the cheap plasticky junk to focus on personal audio products that would have a fighting chance of giving you good sound.

Even with so many new headphones, Bluetooth speakers, and other new personal/portable audio products debuting at last week's CES, there was still plenty of room for new introductions in traditional audio products. In fact, the Venetian Hotel was full of 'em, with exhibits spanning five floors plus some of the convention space downstairs.